Z
12-22-2007, 01:30 PM
I want to have a front winch bumper built for my WK. I want the bumper to be as shallow as possible.
AEV was able to embed a winch in a stock WK bumper. The stock bumper sticks out 3-4 inches from the grill, but a winch is 7-8" deep:
http://www.wkjeeps.com/mojave/2005_wk_mojave_004.jpg
Here's the front of my WK with the bumper fascia removed. As you can see there's a sheet metal crossmember tying the two sides together. This crossmember also holds the lower portion of the grill. Also, not noticeable from this picture, there's a good 6-10 inches between the rear of the crossmember and the front of the radiator.
http://www.travelerz.net/ZJForSale/WKFront-50.jpg
The only way AEV could have embedded the winch into the stock fascia is to cut into the crossmember, in essence, placing a winch box in the yellow area below, which would stick into the gap between the radiator and the crossmember.
http://www.travelerz.net/ZJForSale/WKFrontModified-50.jpg
I'm thinking of cutting away the front and bottom of the crossmember, leaving the back and top intact. This would give me an extra 2 inches of depth, so the bumper face would probably stick out in front of the grill by 4 inches, which I'd think would be pretty acceptable. If I didn't cut into the crossmember, I'm looking at 6-7" of bumper in front of the grill, which doesn't sound like a lot, but sure looks like a lot compared to the stock bumper.
So, if I do this, how would you secure the back of the bumper to the crossmember remnants? Lots of bolts, or would you weld two disparate metal thicknesses together?
Any other (appropriate) thoughts would be appreciated.
For those that have mounted your winch clutch lever facing downward (ARB bumpers do this, right?) - do you find this orientation a pain in the butt, or is it no big deal?
By the way, obviously the winch will be the type with the non-integrated solinoid pack. I should have enough room to embed the solinoid pack INSIDE the bumper, why don't winch manufacturers have a remote plug option, where the solinoid pack is secured out of the way and out of site and just the remote plug receiver is visible on the bumper? (Yeah, I know, they now have wireless remotes, but you still want to have access to the plug receiver for emergencies, don't you?)
AEV was able to embed a winch in a stock WK bumper. The stock bumper sticks out 3-4 inches from the grill, but a winch is 7-8" deep:
http://www.wkjeeps.com/mojave/2005_wk_mojave_004.jpg
Here's the front of my WK with the bumper fascia removed. As you can see there's a sheet metal crossmember tying the two sides together. This crossmember also holds the lower portion of the grill. Also, not noticeable from this picture, there's a good 6-10 inches between the rear of the crossmember and the front of the radiator.
http://www.travelerz.net/ZJForSale/WKFront-50.jpg
The only way AEV could have embedded the winch into the stock fascia is to cut into the crossmember, in essence, placing a winch box in the yellow area below, which would stick into the gap between the radiator and the crossmember.
http://www.travelerz.net/ZJForSale/WKFrontModified-50.jpg
I'm thinking of cutting away the front and bottom of the crossmember, leaving the back and top intact. This would give me an extra 2 inches of depth, so the bumper face would probably stick out in front of the grill by 4 inches, which I'd think would be pretty acceptable. If I didn't cut into the crossmember, I'm looking at 6-7" of bumper in front of the grill, which doesn't sound like a lot, but sure looks like a lot compared to the stock bumper.
So, if I do this, how would you secure the back of the bumper to the crossmember remnants? Lots of bolts, or would you weld two disparate metal thicknesses together?
Any other (appropriate) thoughts would be appreciated.
For those that have mounted your winch clutch lever facing downward (ARB bumpers do this, right?) - do you find this orientation a pain in the butt, or is it no big deal?
By the way, obviously the winch will be the type with the non-integrated solinoid pack. I should have enough room to embed the solinoid pack INSIDE the bumper, why don't winch manufacturers have a remote plug option, where the solinoid pack is secured out of the way and out of site and just the remote plug receiver is visible on the bumper? (Yeah, I know, they now have wireless remotes, but you still want to have access to the plug receiver for emergencies, don't you?)